What are YOU Seeking?

Today being Christmas I wanted to sit down and wish everyone a blessed time. I recognize that not everyone is Christian and not everyone is celebrating on this exact day. My hope though, is that each of you has a higherBeing you turn to for guidance. Call him Jesus Christ or Jehovah or God or Allah or Budda or Yeweh or Bhagwan or perhaps you don’t yet know him by name as you are currently guided only by a “feeling” or “intuition”. It is my belief that that those “feelings” are your Divine leader steering your heart.

At my recent Tony Robbins workshop he mentioned that the number one thing people long for in life is happiness. Some call it “peace” or being “grounded” or finding “a joy of life.” Over the past week I have met so many people that have proudly declared “I hate Christmas.” Christmas is a season of love and gratitude. If you have feelings of hatred perhaps you need to find out how to turn that around for yourself and know you can made that happen in the blink of an eye. As Tony says the best way to change anything is immersion, to surround yourself by people who possess the qualities you desire. Com’on over and join those of us that love the magic of Christmas. I still get just as excited as I did as a kid and it has more to do with presence then presents.

Tony also mentioned this rather profound statement that “you can’t help someone who you are judging.” This is such a critical piece of information for all of us who interact with others routinely in our lives. However, taking this one step further, the path to true happiness is to stop judging yourself so harshly (and those you live with) and spend each day being grateful for everything you have.

Tony lives by the belief that nothing in life happens TO us, rather it happens FOR us. It is that divine leader acting on our behalf. Sometimes he gives us a nudge; such as when he helped me to make the decision to spend six days improving the quality of my life with Tony rather than going to yet another agility trial. Other times he uses a sledge hammer; as we witnessed during the wee hours of day three when Mr. Robbins asked the question “who in the room has constantly thought of suicide?” It was the real or perceived events of the lives of the 12 broken souls that caused them to stand up that night. Of the 1500 of us in the room, those 12 didn’t account for the ones who where feeling life was so hopeless there was no sense in standing. The reality of the situation brought me to tears and if you know me, you know I don’t cry easily.

Suffering comes from separation says Tony. Separation, ultimately, from the person you are deep inside or from your Divine leader. The internal conflicts cause so much pain that happiness is elusive and for some, suicide is the only way to end the pain. Once you address your own inner conflicts (which is what a seminar with Tony is all about) your spirit soars.

All of this may be too deep for some of your that read my blog only for dog training suggestions, but

Surrounded by loved ones at a recent family wedding.

just as I wrote about in the Journey, our life with our dogs really has little to do with dog training at all does it? Isn’t our “dog life” really just a vessel for each of us to learn our lessons. A place where God gives us our nudges or sometimes our sledge hammer hits. Please don’t take this the wrong way but, imagine if one of the reasons I have won so much, and the reason you value my input into your dog training, was only to have you end up here reading this blog today?

Today on Christmas, I am grateful for all of the love I feel from the people in my life and my gratitude spills over for each of you that visit this blog and allow me to share my experiences with you. I extend my sincere wishes to each of you for an outrageously happy holiday season.

“…imagine if one of the reasons I have won so much, and the reason you value my input into your dog training, was only to have you end up here reading this blog today?”

That is a profound statement. I think about these kinds of things. Several things in your life could be going on simultaneously–there could even be a theme but you could be missing it. Here you are, my agility instructor, talking about the same things my yoga instructor teaches. And then it comes back to the dogs, as you mentioned above.

My dogs keep trying to teach me to lighten up (my husband too for that matter! ;)) One of these days I’ll get that lesson. At least I am aware. Isn’t that the first step?

I hope to be able to work with Tony soon. It sounds like a real life-shifting experience.

Merry Xmas Susan, it sounds as though you have an incredible faith established in your life, I admire that as I learned to admire my mother’s faith this past year.
I lost her to cancer in September, a profound experience for me, I literally lived the experience of her death. I was her caretaker, along with hospice. When she was diagnosed in June, she chose not to do chemo, a choice that my brother and I had a hard time accepting at first. This is where the point of this comment comes in…. Among the many things I learned from my mother the month that I lived with her was that FAITH, her strong faith not only guided her life while living, but guided her death in the most profound and graceful way. Never once did she complain “why me”, ever! She accepted her fate and felt fortunate that she was able to live a healthy life for 75 years.
One morning while we were lying in bed (I slept with her every night) I asked her if she was afraid to die, she looked at me and blinked, “No Lynne, I am not afraid to die, I know where I am going, I am just not thrilled about what I have to go through to get there”. It was at that moment I realized that the hard work and effort my mom put into building her faith throughout her life was coming to fruition at that precise moment in time. It was allowing her to be peaceful and graceful through a very challenging time. Her faith gave me the strength I needed to care for her. Her faith is still giving….. Her faith, the same faith that my brother and I bucked our whole lives, ended up in the end, doing what it was meant to do a along, embrace us in love, give us strength and allow my mother to endure her fate with the utmost peace and grace.

This Christmas I am grateful that I was able to bathe in my mother’s love for 50 years and that (bringing this back to dog training) I have two of the most amazing dogs that were able to give up agility for a few months and morph into the role of therapy dogs.

Susan,
Once again, your insights have touched upon so many key issues that run deep in our lives. The paths we take as we journey through the living process are indeed guided by the hand of God. We make choices, but the alternatives are presented to us with purpose, so we can hopefully choose what will impact our spiritual growth and inner-connectedness with one another the most.

The daily communion I have with my husband, my friends and my dogs represents the positive aspects of my life and my soul. I believe it is my responsibility to expand the circle to include most everyone I meet, perhaps lifting their life experience to a more meaningful and aware level. Thank you for giving me time this morning to reflect on all that is good in my life and to be grateful for another day to work on improving who I am, to be a better influence on those around me. To me, your assumption that we are here reading your blog today by design rings true. Thank you and God bless you, Susan, for all that you are, and all that you offer to those around you.

I came to this blog to learn more about dog training, i.e., agility. But am DELIGHTED to find so much more. Like you said today, I came here to find out about dog training and instead (today) found that I admire and respect you for so much more beyond dog agility. It seems like your Tony Robbins experience was HUGE for you, and in return you are giving back as much, if not more, than you received. Thank You.

It does seem like there’s a lot of Holiday Hatin’ going around, so I truly appreciate today’s blog. Nice to hear from someone full of Holiday Joy.

One of the things that I’ve so much appreciated over the years of attending SY! camps is the spiritual undercurrent of connecting with other beings, whether human, canine or (whatever the species name for turtle is…). Not only do I get excellent training advice (tempered with a little of the Susan Garrett brand “motivation” ), I also learn a little more about myself. Oh, and let’s not forget those awesome massages!!!

At this moment, I am grateful for the people who came into my life when I was “losing my religion.” My wish for you is continued growth and happiness in your journey. May you find a little Christmas magic in every day along the way.

Every day I understand more and more that it really isn’t about the dog training but the wonderful journey, (at time exciting, at times challenging) that it really is all about. Thanks to all the dogs, dog training buddies, students and loved ones for being a part of this journey.

I believe dogs and animals are on earth to teach us how to open our hearts. This blog is just one instrument. The post touched me deep inside and made a difference today. Thanks. Merry Christmas and Peace.

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